An engine equipped vehicle is generally equipped with a catalyst to purify the engine's exhaust gas. When the catalyst does not reach a temperature that allows the catalyst to be activated, the catalyst cannot purify the exhaust gas sufficiently. Accordingly, conventionally, there has been proposed an EHC having a catalyst configured to be electrically heatable by an electric heater or the like.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-035226 (PTD 1) discloses that in a hybrid vehicle having an engine, an EHC, a motor generator, and a battery, when it is determined from the force required to drive the vehicle and the battery's current state of charge that it is necessary to drive the engine, the EHC is supplied with electric power and thus heated based on the force required to drive the vehicle, the battery's current state of charge, and the temperature of each component of the engine.